


The Earthquake

by holdouttrout



Series: Jack Built [4]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-22
Updated: 2007-10-22
Packaged: 2017-10-22 01:51:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/232411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holdouttrout/pseuds/holdouttrout
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The building might not be the most sturdy thing in an earthquake. This is best read as a prequel of sorts to Pepper's <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/collections/jack_built/works/212931">Debra Winger Moment</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Earthquake

The lights flickered.

Jack had opened his mouth to yell at the tenants in room 320, but something was off.

The lights usually went _out_ when Sam blew the fuses.

Jack just had time to close his mouth again when the shaking started. Jack lunged for the doorway and watched in amazement as his kitchen chairs wobbled across the floor, the ceiling fixture swayed, and pictures dropped off his walls, one by...well, he supposed he only had two actual pictures. The dishes in the sink rattled, and at least one or two broke with a shattering sound.

Nothing too bad--

From above came a terrifying noise somehow combining a crash, stressed metal, and a loud bang.

 _Oh, god_ , Jack thought, fingers digging into the wood frame on either side of the door. The old building had passed the inspection he'd insisted upon when he moved in, but he knew that earthquakes weren't in the plan.

The shaking subsided, and the lights finally went out for good. It was really dark--late at night, and the street lights were out, too. Jack grabbed the large flashlight he kept by the door and checked his apartment really quick. It looked okay. He rushed out his door and around the elevator bank into the lobby.

He saw right away what had caused the noise. The elevator doors were half open, and inside there was a twisted, broken mess of wood paneling and metal. dust was drifting up and out of the hole, but nothing was on fire. Jack shined the flashlight beam into the wreckage and found nothing--no one had been inside the elevator at the time.

"Thank God," he muttered.

And that's when the screaming started.

Jack flew up the stairs, bypassing the second floor entirely and up to the third, where Rodney was standing in the middle of the hallway, panic-stricken. All around him, doors were opening, people emerging, visibly shaken but all of them whole.

"Rodney!" Jack barked. Rodney turned toward him, his eyes wide, and managed to stop making noise, at least.

"Are you hurt?"

Rodney shook his head. "But my life is ruined," he moaned, collapsing onto the floor.

Daniel poked his head out their apartment door. "Don't listen to him. He's just annoyed that he has to start his latest experiment over."

Rodney glared. "That's a whole week of work!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Okay, how about everybody else. Everyone accounted for?" There were six apartments per floor, but only five groups nodded at him.

"Where are Sam and Liz?"

Rodney and Daniel looked startled. Jack knocked on their door and tried it, but it was locked.

"Oh, no," Rodney started to moan, "the one hot chick I had a chance with--" Jack glared, but Daniel furrowed his brow.

"They might have been at Janet's tonight," he said quickly, forestalling any more of Rodney's comments.

Jack nodded and told Cam and Daniel to go downstairs and see if everyone on the second floor was okay.

"And why don't you all go down there, just in case there are aftershocks?" As an afterthought, he turned and said, "Rodney--find a radio, would you?"

Everyone looked relieved to have something to do, including Rodney.

Jack climbed the stairs to the fourth floor and found a small group of people in the hallway. No one here was hurt, and everyone was accounted for. Jack sent most of them downstairs with the others, but asked T to come with him. They found a deserted hallway, and Jack had a sinking feeling about the whole situation. Only two apartments up here were occupied, however--he'd just kicked out two people last month--and he knew that Charlie was at a game tonight. Which left Janet's place.

He knocked, and from inside the apartment, he heard Cassie's panicked voice and Janet's calm and reassuring one.

"It's Jack," he called.

Cassie opened the door. She'd been crying, obviously frightened, and Jack scooped her up without a thought. She clung to him with the death grip of a five-year-old and burst into tears.

"Where's your mommy?" he asked, but then he saw her. She was kneeling in the middle of the living room. Next to her, the heavy bookcase Janet had had for medical textbooks and for Cassie's picture books and photos had fallen. Sam was trapped beneath it, her leg at an unnatural angle.

Jack was over the couch in a second, and Janet rose quickly to face him, her face pale.

"We don't think anything's broken, but I can't move it all the way up myself, and if she can't move--"

Jack nodded, but it was T who bent down and grabbed the wood, lifting it up smoothly and setting it upright against the wall. Janet and Jack lifted books off of Sam, who was pale but conscious. She stifled a cry a couple of times, but gritted her teeth until they were done moving the books into stacks at the edges of the room.

Cassie was quiet, now, reassured by something finally getting done.

Janet bent over Sam and prodded her in various locations, leaving her leg for last. When she finished, she stepped back.

"Nothing's broken, but I think your ankle might be sprained."

Sam struggled to sit up, wincing as she put weight onto the leg in front of her. She moved her limbs gingerly at first, and then with more confidence.

"I think it is just my ankle," she confessed to her audience.

Cassie practically leaped out of Jack's arms to hug Sam, who winced at the impact but grabbed Cassie tightly. "I'm okay," she said, her voice only shaking a bit.

Cassie let go and Jack helped Sam up to stand on her left foot, which seemed fine.

"We should see if everyone else is okay," Sam said, holding onto Jack's shoulder. He slipped an arm around her waist--just to keep her steady.

"I believe O'Neill already checked on his way up," T said solemnly.

"Rodney had--issues, but everyone else seems okay. I sent people down to the second floor, so we should probably head on down." Jack looked toward the door, and then down to Sam's foot.

"It could take us a while, though. The elevator is broken."

Janet, who had been helping Cassie grab a bag of toys and crayons, said, "What?"

Jack grimaced. "The elevator crashed. Saw what's left of it on the lobby floor. It could take a while to get it fixed--might need a new one, if it's as bad as I think."

"Oh, joy," Sam said, examining her feet. "Climbing the stairs is gonna be fun."

Janet's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Oh, no. You are not climbing stairs until that ankle heals. And you're going to your doctor tomorrow so you can at least get crutches."

"Well, I can't just ask T to follow me around and carry me, can I?"

Janet got a speculative look in her eye, and Jack was sure he wasn't going to like whatever she said next.

"Well, Mr. O'Neill has an extra room. He can put you up for a couple of weeks, I'm sure."

Bad, bad, bad idea. "I'm an apartment manager, not a hospital!"

Sam was also, Jack was pleased to note, shaking her head. "No--that's absolutely ridiculous," she protested.

Janet put her hands on her hips. "Nonsense. I'm sure Mr. O'Neill wouldn't let you walk two flights of stairs multiple times a day, carrying books, and groceries, and..."

"Alright!" Jack said, feeling guilty. "Sam, you're welcome to stay with me, at least for a few days--if you want to."

Sam looked reluctant, but one look at Janet's face had her nodding enthusiastically. "Sure. Fine. Whatever."

Janet huffed and helped Cassie with the last of the crayons. T took the bag and Cassie, lifting the girl up onto his back. Jack and Sam made their way awkwardly into the hall and waited for Janet to close the apartment door.

Sam leaned in to Jack and said, in a low voice, "You really don't have to--I'll just tell Janet that Liz is helping me out."

"I heard that!" Janet said. "And you will not. I know Liz is going to be out of town for the next week, and believe me, if I so much as catch you setting foot on those stairs..." She shook a finger in Sam's direction.

As they descended the stairs, one at a time, Jack said, in a low, sing-song voice, "Busted."

Sam turned her head and grinned, and Jack thought that maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

He was probably wrong, but he was going to enjoy the delusion while it lasted.


End file.
